Live Video: Shout Out Louds

When Sweden’s Shout Out Louds came onstage for their 6:50 p.m. show at Sasquatch Music Festival this year, the weather started to shift from sunny skies to cloudy weather, but where most bands would thrive in a warm-natured festival environment, Shout Out Louds’ melancholy pop benefitted from the overcast weather. The day before though, the band had brought songs from their newest album Optica into KEXP’s studios, and even without grey skies on their side, Adam Olenius and Bebban Stenborg’s breathy, Robert Smith-esque harmonies resonated over the band’s gliding, phasing sonics. As gloomy as this all can sound, the band’s secret weapon – the Swedes’ unnaturally great ability to craft brilliant pop melodies – made the sadness as sweet as it can come. Watch the quintet’s most recent in-studio session here: